Le 17/10/2011 17:13, Invisible a écrit :
> 
> - It does not appear to be possible to adjust the seats. I've never seen
> that in any car, ever. (You can move the seats forwards and backwards,
> but you apparently cannot adjust the back.)

On Opel Corsa (as Vauxhall is a sister-company in GM of Opel), you can
adjust the back with a knob (not a lever), on only one side of the seat.
And that knob (which has the size of a big hand) is usually hard as hell
to turn. (memory of Opel Corsa 1.7D... D for Gasoil/Diesel)

> - The dashboard has two identical dials on it. Obviously one is engine
> speed and the other is road speed. There is no way to determine which is
> which, except that the right-hand dial has a second scale printed on it,
> marked "kph" in almost illegibly tiny writing.

So at least you know it's the second one for the speed...

> 
> - There is no temperature gage. Arguably you don't need one, but it
> would be nice to know when my hands are going to stop freezing.

Is there at least a heating air system ? And is it set correctly ?
Are the traps opened ?

> 
> - It is not possible to turn the lights off. You can have sidelights,
> sidelights + headlights, or just headlights. But you cannot have no
> lights at all. Even if you're driving through Death Valley at high noon,
> you have to have your lights on, so you look like a complete tosser.

just thanks the laws...


> 
> - The steering seems surprisingly heavy. I'm presuming it just lacks
> power steering; all the cars I've driven recently had that.
> 

Guess what, a 1.2L is not going to have any assisted steering. That
would not be economic.

> The big, big issue, of course, is performance. Or rather, the utter
> absence of anything resembling it.

1.2L corsa is a petrol engine. As such, it's best performance is
probably in the 3000 to 6000 rpm zone. It has nearly no tork at lower
speed.
Such small price make no room for sound isolation, so it's noisy.

> 
> Now obviously a 1.2 litre engine is never ever going to perform like the
> 2 lire fuel-injected engine I'm used to. It's just not gonna happen. On
> the other hand, when you drive down the road and lorries, buses and dump
> trucks are overtaking you, something isn't quite right there. :-P

the tests of 1.2 Corsa (old or twinport) says; 0 to 60mph in 12s or
11.8s. You have to learn the gearbox to stay in the power zone of the
engine. The fifth gear is a cruise gear, on flat ground. you might need
to go back to fourth to get some reactivity.

In deed, web search told me: the engine has 80 hp at 5600 rpm, and
11.2mKg torque at 4000 rpm.

You need to push that engine so that the next gear start at least at
3000 rpm.



> 
> The car has 5 gears. I eventually realised that when you get to a
> certain speed, a little light comes on warning you to change up a gear
> before you break the engine. And my god, the engine seems to struggle
> *constantly*! You know that sound an engine makes if you try to do 45
> MPH in first gear? This car sounds like that ALL THE TIME!! I don't
> *care* if the rev counter says it's only doing "20" and the engine
> red-lines at "70"; it STILL sounds like it's about to explode!

When the light blinks, you are already too far.
And as a petrol engine, it is exploding... half the rpm speed per cylinder!

-- 
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase <br/>
a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.<br/><br/>

Benjamin Franklin

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